Disclaimer:
Inuyasha characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. Other characters are property of Kidoairaku.

Rating:
PG-13: for possible language, adult situations, and just in case

Summary:
[Sess/Kag] An elf, captured from overseas, was abused in all ways
imaginable. She finds it, now, too hard
to bear. She will live on through
Kagome…but what problems will it pose to the young girl?

Genre: Romance/Drama

A/N:
Thanks for sticking with me!
^_^ An off-chapter ahead. =)

Merged Souls

Chapter Five: Infidelity

August 2003

"Sesshoumaru?"

He turned at the sound of his name,
silky hair whipping with his head. Hahaue… His mother did not look the least bit happy,
if the tight frown curving her lips was any indication. He had a feeling it was not something
triggered by any sort of event, but the general scope of things; maybe she had
done a little soul-searching? She came
to sit beside him on the bench, lifting her gaze to the heavens. Perhaps she was only looking for him, upset
that he had left the gathering? Was it
over? he wondered idly.

"Hahaue…?"

A sighed fluttered from her rosy
lips. "You left early, Sesshoumaru,"
she said softly.

"Yea, I did. Am I to be punished now?" His voice was barely above a whisper; it was
a naturally quiet one, yet strong and commanding. He inherited his mother's voice.

Toshira turned her azure eyes to
him, wordlessly observing.
"Sesshoumaru," she murmured.
Suddenly, his mother seemed very tired to him, like her energy was
sucked away…like the 304 years she'd lived had suddenly caught up to her in the
timeline of a more human being. She was
still yet young in youkai years. "You
will have to learn to speak in a more sophisticated manner." Her hand lifted to curl his shoulder-length
hair around a pointed ear. "You will be
the Western Lord one day, my eldest and only son."

She smiled then—an empty smile
seemingly devoid of meaning at all.
Though he was young, he could see the long-suffered sadness, that
strange aura that screamed "alone."

Sesshoumaru's eyes ran over her in
concern.

His mother was, all things
considered, a beautiful person. Her
hair, falling to her slender hips, was a deep auburn hue that complimented her
bright eyes. She possessed long dark
lashes that framed the blue orbs nicely; a well-defined face that sculpted her
as a patrician. All who knew her were
familiar with her charming personality and educated sophistication. Not only that, but she was fairly powerful—a
fox demon. Toshira was everything
perfect and more; it was beyond Sesshoumaru why she'd be unhappy…

Maybe except for that tiny problem
with his father…

Despite everything, he smiled back
at her brightly. "Of course! I'll be the Western Lord, and everything'll
be fine. Don't you think?"

He didn't expect an answer, and she
didn't give one. They opted for staring
up at the star-bedecked sky.

"Come," his mother beckoned after a
moment, rising. "We have much to do."

Sesshoumaru hopped up and followed
in his mother's shadow, snagging his discarded clothing from a tree branch as
he went along. He didn't know what she
meant by "much to do" because they were, surely, only up for bathing and then
going to sleep. Unless, of course, the
royalties had not dispersed; then he was in for a long night. He decided to ask her about it.

"Have they left yet?"

She seemed surprised by this
inquiry. "Who?"

"The people, the gathering, the
annoying Ladies and Lords," he answered with a dismissive wave of his
hand. "Those people, you know."

"Show more respect, Sesshoumaru,"
she scolded weakly. He could tell she
didn't think they warranted much respect anyway. A smile played on his lips.

"Have they left?" he repeated,
slipping his black and silver garments on.

"Some have…" Her voice did an abrupt decrescendo.

He looked up in alarm, casting his
gaze about the cavernous room swiftly.
"…Father…?"

"Probably another one of his
concubines," Toshira replied quickly.
She sighed deeply, averting her gaze to the ground. "Come, Sesshoumaru. We are retiring for the night."

His sun-like eyes shifted over her
curiously. …We?

` ` `

Well, it
turned out his mother was not sleeping in the same room as his father this
night. The Western Lady took to a room
neighboring his, warmly bidding him goodnight before sliding the doors shut. It was obvious she was upset. Sesshoumaru still had yet to understand why
she'd taken a different room, though.
Surely, even if his father had left with a concubine, his mother
could still barge in anytime and call it quits. Easy, right? Maybe it didn't
work that way, though. He didn't
particularly care to find out.

` ` `

Toshira
spent a half-hour in the foreign room, simply sitting on the balcony rail and
staring at the stars. What could she
do? Their alliance was all but
shattered, hanging by a proverbial thread.
She was recklessly in love; she'd do anything for him, for her
Inutaisho; he didn't feel anything for her.
Their first child was male—Sesshoumaru—so the Western Lands already had
a suitable heir. That was the end of
her. That was it.

…It wasn't
supposed to be like this…

Not
after…well, they hadn't really been through anything together. There was nothing emotionally binding
between them. Their relationship
was…weak…

She felt
lost and hopeless. Nothing else was to
come from their joining, from their so-called mating. She realized with a sad yearning that they were finished—that he
was finished with her…

That there
was a replacement for her…

Toshira
curled into herself, rocking dangerously on the balustrade of the
overhang. Her hand fisted and opened
again, a flower blooming from her open palm.
It was a trick Inutaisho had enjoyed seeing repeated over and over
again. She lifted the blossom to the
wind, watching as the welcoming arms of the breezes set it afloat in the night sky.

"Goodbye," she whispered brokenly.

` ` `

Even as his
mind screamed the irrationality of this new concept, this new feeling budding
inside his being, he could not pull himself away from the distraction. His lips curled into an amused smirk as she
continued to lilt on the state of human-demon affairs. He himself did not partake in much interest
on the subject, but seeing her obvious passion for it drew him in. The way she seemed to flourish in every
matter of relations amazed him. Her
long, thin fingers curled around his as she finished in that breathy way of
hers, dark eyes entreating him to entertain her.

"Do you
understand?" she prodded, leaning over ever so slightly. "The way we have it now—it is not meant to
be!"

The Western
Lord was taken aback, surprised. It was
almost as if she was reading his mind—his treasonous thoughts, it seemed, she
had taken into light—the way we have it now…it is not meant to be. His gaze drifted distractedly over her
digits, wandering over each delicate nail and groove in her skin. It was justifiably wrong for him to
have any kind of connection to this human, albeit a noble one. He frowned, one name ringing in his head: Toshira…

"Inutaisho-sama,"
she huffed in exasperation, "are you paying me any attention?" Her lips flashed in a brief smile just to
show she meant it all in good humor.

His eyes
finally turned to her, softening a light sense of laughing. The taiyoukai brought her hand to his lips,
briefly brushing them in a chaste caress.
"Would you care to join me outside, Haruko-san?" He rose without receiving her answer, taking
her with him as he trailed out of the cavernous hall.

The lady
Haruko moved at his side, occasionally sending him questioning glances. She knew him well enough to configure the
fact that he was distracted tonight. As
of late, too, Toshira-sama had drifted from her side, from both their
sides. The lady seemed to be erecting a
firm barrier between herself and Haruko, as well as Inutaisho. Why?
She laced her fingers firmly into his, silently reassuring him.

As the
corridor opened to the outside world, cherry blossoms burst into bloom around
them, twirling gently in the night breeze.
Inutaisho inhaled deeply as the rhythmic murmur of running water greeted
him. Of all the places in the world, he
would rather be here in the garden than anywhere else. It was piece of the humanity his race deeply
suppressed: simplicity and tranquility.
Those things, it seemed, were the only things humans could hold onto in
their small, fragmented world.

His dark
amber eyes turned on her, as if demanding her unwavering attention. Her gaze was turned skyward, stayed by the
winking of stars.

"I wasn't
aware you had a garden," she whispered, fingers loosening from his.

He kept a
firm grip on her hand, not wanting to let her go. He would not allow her to drift from him; she did not reciprocate
the odd feelings he held for her, and it worried him. Sighing, he glanced to the sky as well. The display was nothing special—not anything different from any number
of centuries before, he thought.
Disinterested, he focused more on her, on his Haruko. A silly infatuation, he thought. Meaningless, not worth the discord.

"Aren't
they beautiful?"

In
consideration, he spared the heavens another glance. "Not anything special," he quipped.

"So you
think," she laughed, finally facing him.
"But you have a lifespan rivaling the stars themselves."

The
taiyoukai held her gaze, lifting a hand to face. She was a special creature, he realized. A girl aglow with life, under the oppression
of aristocracy. She had once said to
him, unbound by the structured boundaries of political matters, "Fly free." It only took a second when he decided, all
things, all people, Toshira aside.
"I am taking your advice, Haruko."
Her name trickled from his lips like so much rain from pregnant spring
clouds, so fitting to her, the 'spring child.'

Haruko
could only filter blatant confusion onto her features before her mouth was
brought against the Western Lord's. The
movement took her completely by surprise, but his gentleness, his unyielding
need and unhurried coaxing brought her into his favor. She could only submit to him as he cradled
her form and took off.

Inutaisho
found himself hovering over her in his bed.
His mate's name only rang once in his mind before he settled his lips
against the human lady's once more. He
realized hazily that he was courting infidelity now. The pristine white of silk slid off his shoulders fluidly as his
mouth moved over her soft skin.

Fly free…

A/N: Strange, huh? Not much Sesshou, either. I'm hoping to develop this right; let me
know if the chapter was rushed; it seemed that way. For clarification, Toshira is the Lady of the Western Lands,
Inutaisho's offical mate, and Haruko is just some random lady, maybe
princess. ^_^ Thank you for reading!

-kidoairaku

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.